Video: Contour Makes Bid To Remain Air Carrier For Tupelo Regional Airport

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – The Tupelo Airport Board must decide which airline it will choose to serve the city, as part of the Essential Air Service Program.
Contour Airlines currently has the contract and made its pitch .
Now, the airport is considering another program that would give it more control.

Contour Airlines CEO Matt Chaifetz is not taking his airline’s incumbent status for granted.

“I think our record speaks for itself, I think we are very proud of what we’ve accomplished here in restoring the market and rebuilding trust in air service here in Tupelo and we want to be, we are Tupelo’s hometown airline,” Chaifetz said.

Chaifetz stressed Contour’s reliability to airport board members, telling them passenger boardings are at the higheset level in three years and there is a ninety nine percent completion rate for scheduled flights.

Contour is being paid a subsidy of $4.2 million a year under the government’s Essential Air Service program.

“We are filling more than 70 percent of the seats every month, I was just talking to a passenger earlier who said her only complaint about Contour is she can’t secure a seat on Sundays, because we are sold out so often,” Chaifetz said.

Last week, Boutique Air’s plan presented its plan to the airport leaders with possible destinations to Nashville and Atlanta.

Contour’s proposal has similar destinations.

Airport Board Chairman Larry Decker says an Atlanta option could mean more boardings, which would require larger aircraft.

That’s why the board is looking at the option of going with the government’s Alternate EAS program, where the subsidy would go directly to the city or airport authority where it could negotiate the fee with the airline.

“The way essential air service rules and regulations work, there’s only so many people we can carry on an airplane, if we go with an alternate, air service, then it’s possible we could get more passengers on an airplane so we can accommodate the business and leisure travelers,” Decker said.

The deadline to choose an airline is Thursday, but board members agreed to extend that until Monday. That’s when they will also look at voting on whether to switch to the Alternate Essential Air Service program.

Once an airline is chosen, that decision must be approved by the Department of Transportation.

contourairlines.com